


Combat Maneuvers

by gencat (songsinblue)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Fist Fights, Historical References, M/M, Sloppy Makeouts, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-13 13:45:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4524282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songsinblue/pseuds/gencat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A study session devolves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Combat Maneuvers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rinthegreat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinthegreat/gifts).



“Don’t touch anything,” Kaiba says as Jounouchi follows him into the immaculate office. He doesn’t say anything else; just opens his laptop and brings up a few pages, then begins to type. Jounouchi sits across from him, considerably less gracefully, and nudges his battered world history book onto the desk. After a minute in sullen silence, he speaks up. 

“Aren’t you going to ask what I know about the Mongolian Empire stuff?” he demands. It’s the only class he’s stayed awake in all semester. It’s actually kind of cool. Jounouchi is hoping to show Kaiba up, just this once, and prove he isn’t as dumb as everyone thinks.

“No. I’m going to write this paper, and you’re going to sit quietly while I maintain my grade and maybe even rescue yours.” Kaiba doesn’t look up. He doesn’t know why he even bothered letting Jounouchi come over to work on their assignment. Probably just for the entertainment value. It’s a good thing he can multitask. 

“I have a C+, thank you very much, asshole,” mutters Jounouchi. “I could do just fine by myself.”

“You should be more grateful,” replies Kaiba. He doesn’t even open the textbook. 

“For what, you being your typical nasty self?” Jounouchi is already tired of sitting, he gets up and wanders towards the window. Kaiba snorts and casts a wary glance at him as he pokes around the office, but doesn’t move from his desk. 

The view from the window is nice, but in a moment or two Jounouchi is bored again. It’s no fun when Kaiba is sitting quietly and not giving him any opportunity to push back. Their rivalry is long-standing and almost comfortable, in a weird way. 

“Hey, you know the Mongols used false retreats to trick their enemies into chasing them? Then they’d trap them and conquer everything. They used to let people escape from cities they took just to tell everyone how badass they were. Put that in there somewhere.”

Typing. “I know that. They were the last nomadic army to conquer more civilized populations… it figures you’d appreciate them.”

“What?” Jounouchi tries to find the implications there and misses in his haste to reply.

“They really were resourceful,” continues Kaiba, pausing in his composition of the essay long enough to enjoy the comparison he’d just drawn. It’s awfully accurate, in his opinion. 

Jounouchi stops sulking and wanders back over to sit on the edge of the desk. “Yeah,” he says. “I just think it’s pretty cool how people managed to do all these things back then with just bows and arrows and stuff.” 

“You’re not wrong,” says Kaiba. It’s hard to pick at Jounouchi when he’s honestly enthused about something. In fact, that’s half of why Kaiba pushes him around in the first place- it’s exciting. For a minute they just sit in an almost companionable silence. 

Jounouchi pulls his deck out of his jacket and flicks through it, thinking of battles and conquests. “We should duel after this. Unless you’re scared, because I’m going to win.”

“I don’t have the five minutes to spare to crush you today, idiot,” says Kaiba. “And in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve _destroyed_ you every single time we’ve played.”

“Hey, don’t make it sound like you didn’t have to try. I would have won, you just got lucky,” protests Jounouchi. That stung a bit, was it too much to ask for a sliver of respect for the fights he’d put up? "You're good but you’re not perfect,” he glared from his position on the desk. 

Kaiba has paused in typing. His jaw clenches. Jounouchi smirks. “Oh. Sore topic?” 

Beneath the surface, Kaiba envisions his hands around the blond’s throat. Where the hell does he get off talking to him like that? Instead he manages to sound cold when he says, “Please. You don’t understand anything about the game, you just tag along after everyone else. I’ll never understand why your little friends actually think they can _depend_ on you or something-”

Jounouchi jumps off the desk. “Shut up! What did any of us ever do to you anyway?”

Kaiba stands to face him down, ice in his gaze and a bitter taste in his mouth. _Everything was fine until they showed up._ “-you aren’t even any use to your sister, and that’s just sad.” By the end of the sentence venom has crept into his controlled tone, but that’s not what causes Jounouchi’s eyes to flare. He plants one hand in Kaiba’s chest and shoves him hard. Kaiba takes one step back, knocking over the chair, but uses the momentum to grip Jounouchi’s wrist and pull him off balance before twisting his arm and throwing him to the carpet without much effort at all. 

It’s tempting to give in and really teach him a lesson, but Kaiba is frustrated that he let himself be needled to this point anyway, and instead he turns to storm out of the office as Jounouchi springs back to his feet. “You coward,” yells Jounouchi behind him. He doesn’t expect the blond to take things any further, he usually knows his place by now. But the truth is, this is usually the part where Jounouchi’s friends step in and break things up, which they are not here to do at the moment, and which is why Kaiba is not expecting Jounouchi to grab him by the shirt, yank him around and punch him in the face. 

It hurts. For a minute, they just stare at each other, almost uncertain of what just happened. Kaiba runs his fingers over his cheekbone, which is numb from the impact, and then he laughs. “When will you learn when you’re outmatched?” he wonders.

“Maybe when you stop being a spoiled, stuck-up-“ Jounouchi breaks off as he attempts to fend off his advancing opponent. He manages to duck once but takes a sharp elbow to the kidney immediately afterwards, and stumbles back into the desk. 

Kaiba snaps, “You think I ever had anything handed to me? You’ve probably had twice as many opportunities than I ever did, and you’re still street trash.” Jounouchi launches himself off the desk and simply tackles Kaiba at the knees, having learned that letting the brunet get a grip on him was only going to get him flipped on the ground. Time to level the playing field. Kaiba attempts to sidestep him, but Jounouchi isn’t deterred and they both go down hard. Kaiba yanks one foot free and kicks Jounouchi in the side of the head so hard he sees stars. He lets go, and gets thrown backwards for hesitating. 

Kaiba appears in his field of vision, panting from having the wind knocked out of him a moment ago, and promptly tries to punch him, but for once Jounouchi is quicker, and grabs his wrists. Jounouchi is certainly stronger, especially when they’re scuffling on the floor and Kaiba doesn’t have the advantage of height. He flips them both and plants a knee below the brunet’s ribs, causing him to choke on whatever breath was left in his body and go limp. 

At that, Jounouchi makes the mistake of letting go of Kaiba’s wrists in triumph, and a second later he gets backhanded across the face. Kaiba claws at the carpet and pulls free. Jounouchi grabs his foot and yanks him backwards. He regrets that almost immediately, when Kaiba wrenches up and, whether deliberately or not, smacks the back of his head into Jounouchi’s nose. Jounouchi lashes out blindly and manages to connect with Kaiba’s already bruised cheekbone as he twists to face him. They pull away for a moment to catch their respective breath. 

Jounouchi wipes the blood from his nose and smiles dangerously, which sends an electric shock through Kaiba’s aching body. There is something to be admired about that determination, or is it possible he’s actually enjoying this? Kaiba smirks right back despite his split lip, feeling even more alive than he does when dueling. “Had enough?” he asks shakily.

“Never enough,” Jounouchi says, and makes to get to his feet. Kaiba sweeps one foot out and takes him down again, which was a good plan until Jounouchi falls on top of him again. Kaiba’s bruised ribs scream in pain and he coughs as Jounouchi growls and pins him down hard, and this time he fights but can’t find the opening he needs to gain the upper hand. Jounouchi is heavy, and Kaiba is beginning to tire from keeping a step ahead of him.

It’s even more satisfying than Jounouchi had dreamed, having Kaiba pinned under him, spitting blood on the collar of his fancy pressed shirt and fixing him with piercing blue eyes. It’s totally worth the pain thus far. Kaiba stops struggling after a minute and starts cursing him instead. His hair is a mess, and while Jounouchi knows he probably looks a bit the worse for wear too, it’s enough to make him smile. 

“I don’t get it,” Jounouchi pants. “One minute we’re having an almost normal conversation and then we’re trying to kill each other.”

“Get off me.”

“Why should I? You’re just gonna smack me again, like a girl.”

“I’ll do more than that.” Kaiba tries to squirm free again, but it’s a lost cause. 

“You talk like I didn’t just kick your prissy ass.” Kaiba flattens himself against the floor, which seems odd until Jounouchi realizes a second too late that the brunet was reaching for the leg of the chair Jounouchi himself had been sitting in, and had managed to pull it down on top of them. It’s leather, and heavy, and as Jounouchi ducks, Kaiba kicks him backwards and drags himself to his feet. Jou jumps up and grabs Kaiba by the collar as he staggers forward, and Kaiba grabs the front of Jounouchi’s shirt, and for a minute they just lean warily on each other, still breathing hard. 

“Why can’t you just give it up?” Kaiba says between breaths. “You’re just going to get hurt.” His hands are shaking, but his gaze is still searing.

Jounouchi grits his teeth. “Like you could really hurt me. Just accept it! We’re evenly matched! That’s all I want to hear, damn it.”

“And all I want is for you to leave me alone,” Kaiba spits, licking blood off his teeth.

“Is it?” demands Jounouchi, jerking Kaiba’s collar. “Because you’re always trying to get on my nerves.” They are practically nose to nose, stares almost enough to ignite the air between them, and Jounouchi can’t think straight with the adrenaline crashing through his chest. 

Kaiba tries to keep Jounouchi in focus and starts to say, “I don’t…” but he pauses for a split second to collect his thoughts because everything is moving at high speed, the game has changed, he needs to think- and that’s when Jounouchi leans in and kisses him firmly on the lips and suddenly everything crashes to a halt. 

Jounouchi pulls back, waiting for whatever’s coming next, but Kaiba’s eyes just go wide. His voice drops to a threatening tone and he says, “You wanna do that again, mutt?”

Jounouchi is ninety-five percent sure he’s going to get punched in the face, but he knows a dare when he hears one. He says boldly, “Yep,” and kisses the brunet again.

For a moment Kaiba stands perfectly still. _I lived a good life,_ Jounouchi thinks, eyes closed, and entirely not sorry. _Especially this last part._ Unexpected, but damn. His heart nearly stops when Kaiba suddenly grabs his shoulders and returns the kiss heatedly. Jounouchi pulls Kaiba closer, and tries to remember to breathe. Kaiba’s hands slide down his sides, leaving his skin tingling, and Jounouchi finds himself backed into the desk. 

Kaiba has given up trying to make sense of the confusion of thoughts and narrowed it all down to Jounouchi’s flushed face, the heat coming off his skin, and _oh god_ the sensation of Jounouchi trailing small kisses down his jaw and neck. Kaiba shivers and presses closer, running one hand up Jounouchi’s back to twist in his hair and pull him back into a kiss. Jounouchi’s fingers find a belt loop and grip hard as Kaiba grazes his bottom lip with teeth. 

If they were high on tension before, it was nothing compared to this. The struggle between them had found a new outlet, and it was even more electrifying than the first. Kaiba’s free hand is tracing the curve of Jounouchi’s hip, and his breathing is uneven. Jounouchi presses his advantage and bites down on a slender shoulder. Kaiba nudges him backwards over the desk and leans over him, both of them caught in the heat of the conquest, wandering hands, surprisingly soft mouths on sweaty skin. It’s new. It’s familiar. It’s a loss of control, a desperation, but they are both thinking the same thing- it’s far too good to stop.

**Author's Note:**

> never posted, written in 2013. dear god i used to write so much of this pairing


End file.
